A disgrace

I failed.  I didn't even show up.  I've let my fans down.  This is the way I feel after eating just one 13" pancake and starting the 2nd at the Stepping Stone Cafe in Portland.  The pancake was quite good.  Nice and fluffy airy even.  This was my downfall as they only had tabs of butter and not one of those big ice cream scoops.  I went through about 10 tabs on the first pancake and it wasn't even close to enough.  The pancakes are about an inch thick.  The real food eater eats 3 of these in a stack.  The kitchen screwed up and only sent me one pancake out at a time.  This allowed for more room to eat but I just wasn't feeling it.  I got to the cafe without feeling very hungry and after the first bite I knew it was going to be almost impossible.  A fellow Ironman Canada finisher, Alanna, went with me and she polished off her pancake without trouble plus had 2 scramble eggs.  She crushed me.  I got beat by a girl. ;)

The weekend started by going to see Pink Panther 2 on Friday.  It wasn't as good as the first one but during the movie I polished off a tub and half of popcorn.  I woke up early even though I was trying to sleep in and decided to go ride for 2 hours on the indoor bike.  At 11:30, I had reservations with Eric & Tracey at Claim Jumper.  I had the roasted tri-tip with cheese potatocakes plus biscuit.  For dessert, I was somewhat conservative only getting the chocolate cheese cake.  I thought about the "I Declaur" e-clair which was the size of a football and the 6 layer chocolate cake but I knew the pancakes loomed so I just had the cheese cake.  Just think double the normal size of a dessert cheese cake.  I said goodbye to Eric & Tracey and stumbled back to my hotel room.  I was full.

The sun was great on Saturday so I decided to go for a run in shorts.  It was awesome even though I knew I would be doing a long run on Sunday.  My knee wasn't happy but I was even though I could feel the cheese cake every step of the way.  I rested afterwards but it wasn't enough to have a chance at pancake history.

Sunday morning I gave my report to Orion who promptly said I was worthless as an eater and didn't even feel like taking me to the any buffets when I come and visit.  I begged and promised to train harder than ever before.  It was just a bad day.  I could find it again.  My only saving grace was Orion saw me wreck the Brazilian steak house in DC.

I decided to run with Don and his group for a reported 12-13 miles.  It would be at a slow pace so I figured my knee could hold up.  We proceeded to run and immediately it was bathroom time.  The pancake wasn't happy sitting in my stomach.  I found one on the waterfront and left the pancake and shame in the honey bucket.  We hadn't even reached the turnaround when I asked Alanna how far we had come.  Just under 7 well exactly 6.38 is what her Garmin watch told her.  I started cursing Don who had dropped back behind us so he didn't hear.  I hadn't brought any water or gels or nothing.  I was thinking at least there would be people around when I bonked.  Paul decided to up the pace when we hit the west side waterfront trail in Macadam.  This felt better on my knee and would also get me done before the dreaded bonk.  I started to feel pretty good and just opened it up a little more.  The knee was throbbing with every step but I wanted the run over with.  We finished at the Athlete's Lounge in NW.  The run stats were 14.4 miles in 1:48.  This was my longest run so far this season and I only went longer once during my Ironman training.  Thanks DON!!

I could barely walk on my knee as I headed off to the Blazer/Knick game later.  This game was quite a spectacle.  The Blazers were crushing it until the 3rd quarter.  We hit 75 points and I was thinking chalupas.  Taco Bell gives everyone a chalupa if the Blazers score 100.  Well right then the Knicks started bombing the 3s and Blazers went cold. For all the gory details head over to Andrew's Blazer Blog as he was the one who invited to the game with his season tickets.  He took some great pictures and I'm sure he'll post them all.  Here's a picture I snapped with my phone:

 

I was pretty hungry from the run so I had a cheeseburger, 2 orders of fries, and a bag of popcorn.  The Blazers ended up coming back to win with a last second shot from Brandon Roy.  Awesome!

The weekend is over but it was a great weekend.  I probably gained 5 lbs. and have to start getting serious about my eating.  I only have just over 12 weeks til the Florida trip and I need to be ready both on the half ironman course and off the course at the post race restaurant.